Q&A: Actor-producer Dominic Monaghan of 'The Day'

Dominic Monaghan has been in huge movies ("The Lord of the Rings" trilogy) and iconic television series ("Lost").

But he also appears in smaller films. And in "The Day," not only does he act, he's a producer. It's a grim tale about a future in which the world has somehow gone wrong; 10 years later, humans have resorted to cannibalism. Monaghan plays the leader of a small group of people who haven't resorted to eating each other, and they are pursued by a group that has. The movie opens Wednesday, Aug. 29.

He spoke recently about the movie and his role in it, on both sides of the camera.

Answer: Well, you know, I love working. I'm an actor. I'm in the work section of my life. I love going to work. I love being on-set everyday. It feeds me; it's exciting. Making a film like this felt like we were all part of a group trying to do the right thing. It was a small budget. We all kind of suffered through it, to an extent. But there was no one really complaining. I think the final product is something we're really proud of. You know, you're cold and you're wet, and you could afford an extra shower or two by the end of the day. But the more real it gets for me, the more exciting it is.

Q: You've been in big movies and small. Do you feel more connected to a film like this?

A: When you do something like this -- and all films are hard to make, all TV shows are hard to make -- you realize the real struggle to get a small film made. It was a tiny budget on this, and we all made sacrifices. Then, when you see the final product and you see the polish on it, it probably makes you appreciate the amount of work that went into it. I was lucky enough to be a producer on this, so I was able to see how these types of films get made and see some of the pitfalls that happen sometimes. That was a great education.

Q: Did you enjoy producing?

A: I did, yeah. I like learning new stuff, and continuing to educate myself as best I can. And obviously, learning about this business is worthwhile. We learned a little bit about how to make a film on a tight schedule with no money, and what actors need and what they don't need, what they're willing to do without, how to get a really fantastic script off the page and turn it into something real.

My brain kind of rolls pretty fast when I'm conscious. It's constantly looking for stuff to do. Like if I'm in my house and I'm hanging out, I tend to be listening to music whilst watching a film whilst sending e-mails. If I'm on-set and I'm on a film, it makes sense for me to utilize my brain to solve problems and work stuff out. Otherwise it feels like he's wasting his time a little.

Q: Why are there so many post-apocalyptic movies? It seems like we don't just want them, we need them.

A: I think we are all interested in end-times ideas and also in the current climate that we are all living in, where money is a little harder to come by, things continue to get expensive; gas prices are not too far from people's heads. There are more and more people. Human society's going to have real problems. ... I just think that's something interesting: How would you do in that time? How would you live when we're now lighting the world by firelight, and there's no running water and food is hard to come by? Currency has moved from the dollar bill to a can opener. These questions are kind of interesting.

Q: The film is so gloomy-looking. What did you do when you had a sunny day to get into character?

A: It sounds like a silly answer, but we were lucky enough not to get much good weather. It was in Canada, mainly night shoots in November, so it was cold and rainy and tough. I guess the answer to that question is, you learn to kind of continue to play. I enjoy playing. I play a lot. I play a lot of games, I play in my life. A mind-set of play is important for me to attempt to do the best job that I can do as an actor. That allows me, in those moments that the sun is shining instead of it throwing down with rain, to project the idea that it's gloomy, that it's rough, that I'm injured. I can get there a little easier than most people because I spend a lot of my daytime playing.

Q: You were involved in so many aspects of making the film. How did you react when you saw it?

A: You do spend a lot of time saying, "Oh, that was the day I was tired," or, "That was the day that I fell over and hurt my leg" or, "She looks cute in that scene." You do that, but I try as hard as I can to just enjoy the film if I can.